Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 13, 1993 TAG: 9303130255
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: C-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JANET MASLIN THE NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
`FAR-OFF PLACE' BORES ADULTS, SCARES CHILDREN
Children who are eager to see "Trail Mix-Up," the latest Roger Rabbit cartoon, may have second thoughts about "A Far-Off Place," the full-length African adventure that makes up the rest of the bill. Those second thoughts may just manifest themselves in the middle of the night, like thoughts about Bambi's mother."A Far-Off Place" begins with peaceful glimpses of animal herds, including a picturesque group of elephants. Within about a minute of the film's opening, most of the elephants have been slaughtered by poachers. A baby elephant hovers near its lifeless mother. The baby looks bewildered. The poachers saw off tusks.
A pious credit explains that these scenes have been achieved without harming real animals, and that the animals in the film have been treated "with care and concern for their safety and well-being." This is of no use to anyone in the audience who can't read. It isn't much more helpful for those who can.
"A Far-Off Place" is visually ambitious, but its conception makes little sense, since the story will bore adults and scare children. Those young viewers who make it through the elephant massacre will have even more trouble with the rest of the tale, which involves the problems faced by two brave, newly orphaned white teen-agers after the above-mentioned poachers kill their parents.
The more appealing of the two is 14-year-old Nonnie (Reese Witherspoon, the radiant young star of "The Man in the Moon"), brought up in Africa and cheerfully unpretentious. At the time of the murders, Nonnie's house guest is Harry Winslow (Ethan Randall), an obnoxious American who is visiting with his father and arrives complaining about the absence of satellite dishes and VCR's.
Harry and Nonnie are forced to make a trek across the Kalahari desert, which they do in the company of Xhabbo, a wise and kindly teen-age bushman played disarmingly by Sarel Bok.
As directed by Mikael Salomon and based on books by Laurens van der Post, "A Far-Off Place" relies on orange sunsets and dramatic desert sands to hold the audience's interest much of the time. Maximilian Schell performs ably but briefly as a poacher-hating big-game hunter.
The great outdoors is also vital to "Trail Mix-Up," made in typically lively and irreverent Roger Rabbit style. Set in a national park, this bright, colorful cartoon features a string of murderous mishaps, some amusing familiar backdrops ("The Sawmill," where Roger is splintered into little Rogers), and of course Jessica Rabbit, once again with Kathleen Turner's voice and this time available for ogling as a leggy forest ranger. As another character says of Jessica: "Talk about babes in the woods!"
A Far-Off Place: An Amblin Entertainment production showing at the Valley View Mall 6 and Salem Valley 8. Rated PG for mild profanity and violence that will be disturbing to young children.